CAMDEN – Through seven games, the Charter of Wilmington girls soccer team had outscored its opponents 43-1.

But that meant nothing on Monday. Four minutes into a rainy night at Caesar Rodney, the Force were down a goal and their defense was facing more pressure than it had seen all season.

The defense continued to struggle, but the Charter offense scored twice on corner kicks and showed its power and versatility in a satisfying, 4-3 victory.

"It was nice to score a lot of goals and get a nice win," Force coach Jon Gillespie said. "It was good for our defense to feel that, because they really haven't been pressured. They've been able to kind of dictate things in the back. To have their offensive players coming at us defensively, that was good. That will help us going forward."

Charter was going backward from the start. The Riders' Lexi Prillaman, the state's reigning Player of the Year, collected a ball right against the end line and scored from the sharpest possible angle to push CR up 1-0 in the fourth minute.

The top-ranked Force (8-0) tied it in the 13th minute. Taylor Mitchell entered a corner kick to the far post, and Natalie Rinschler headed it back to McKenna O'Grodnik in the middle. The sophomore headed it home to make it 1-1.

A 15-yard drive by CR's Alexa Faulmino slid off the wet fingertips of Charter goalie Kaitlyn Siberski in the 15th minute, but Force defender Sam Peters cleared it off the goal line. Then, in the final minute of the first half, Charter's Sam Procak unleashed a 30-yard laser into the net to put the Force on top.

That lead only lasted until the second minute of the second half, when Prillaman struck again on a loose ball from 10 yards out to tie it again.

But Rinschler scored from 15 yards out in the 62nd minute, and O'Grodnik headed in another of Mitchell's corner kicks in the 71st minute to push Charter up 4-2.

"Historically, we have been weaker on set pieces and corners," Gillespie said. "But this year, with the group we have, it's just been clicking. We're just amazed we scored a couple off corners, and it has become kind of our go-to offensively. It's a nice little added weapon."

Fifth-ranked CR (8-3) was far from finished, as Faulmino danced around a slipping defender and scored in the 72nd minute. But Siberski preserved the Force's lead, stopping Faulmino on another great chance in the 74th minute.

Both teams earned 11 shots on a grass field that became increasingly slippery as the rain intensified.

"With the rain, you just don't know what's going to happen," Gillespie said. "A slick ball through can cause a goal here and there, but it was good. We're happy with where we are, but we've got a lot of things to work on."